The Ultra Group Australia: Family accuses Arundel builder of leaving home half-built

A distressed family has accused a Gold Coast builder of ghosting them and leaving them to pick up the pieces of a half-built home. But the company says it is committed to finishing the job.

A distressed family has accused a Gold Coast builder of ghosting them and leaving them to pick up the pieces of a half-built home after 18 months of delays.

The Arundel-based builder has blamed material shortages, labour shortages and increasing costs and said it was committed to finishing the home.

Ryan Waterworth said the saga had left his young family in limbo and caused his wife to break down in tears “at least once a week”.

Ryan and Kristy Waterworth and their children Nash and Piper outside their unfinished Coombabah home. Picture: David Clark

They are now pleading with their builder, The Ultra Group Australia, to finish the job.

Mr Waterworth signed a contract for the group to build his Coombabah home in January 2021 and was told it would take no longer than a year.

Almost two and a half years later, the home is still not finished.

Mr Waterworth said the project had gone through five different site supervisors, including the group’s managing director Peter Nastrom.

“Peter never answers his phone and will not respond to text messages or emails even though he is our site supervisor,” he said.

Gold Coast man Ryan Waterworth, pictured at the home he says has hardly been touched since Christmas. Picture: David Clark

Mr Nastrom said he had taken over supervision of Mr Waterworth’s home in an attempt to “minimise ongoing delays” amid “unprecedented” industry challenges.

“Over the past two to three years, the building industry has been a very challenging space to work in,” he said.

“It’s no secret that every builder has had to juggle issues relating to material shortages, labour shortages and increasing costs.

“The team at Ultra Living have done, and will continue to do, everything humanly possible to ensure that homes are delivered to clients as quickly as possible and to the highest standard.”

Mr Waterworth also claimed the unfinished home was riddled with a number of defects including a water leak, uneven external cladding and damaged waterproofing.

Ryan Waterworth's photo of damaged waterproofing at his home currently being built. Picture: supplied

Mr Nastrom said the home needed to be finished before he could determine whether any defects existed.

He said the contract set out a process to fix these if they were identified at handover.

“If defects are identified, we’ll make a mutually convenient time for one of our trades to return to site to carry out the rectification at no cost to him,” Mr Nastrom said.

The delay has forced the family to fork out for a mortgage towards a home they can’t move into – on top of paying $800 a week in rent.

Ryan Waterworth's photo of what he describes as uneven cladding on his new home. Picture: supplied

“This has caused enormous anxiety to myself and my wife not knowing if, or when, our house will be finished,” Mr Waterworth said.

“I come home from work at least once a week to find my wife in tears.”

A formal complaint has been launched with the Queensland Building and Construction Commission.

A QBCC spokeswoman was unable to comment on the matter due to privacy reasons but said there were options available.

“Where the completion of a build or renovation considerably exceeds the time period outlined in the contract, the QBCC encourages the home owner to seek legal advice to consider what steps are available to them including whether termination of that contract may be appropriate,” she said.

The company, trading as Ultra Living Homes, has received four orders to rectify defective work or remedy consequential damage for other projects since 2019.

It racked up 14 demerit points since September 2021 for failure to pay insurance and failure to rectify defective work.

The company was fined $1334 in October 2020 for the failure to pay insurance.

Originally published as The Ultra Group Australia: Family accuses Arundel builder of leaving home half-built